Exercise device with treadable base



Nov. 16, 1965 J. w. ANDERSON 3,218,065

EXERCISE DEVICE WITH TREADABLE BASE Filed Feb. 8, 1963 IN VENTOR.

JG SEPH W. HNDERSUN AQMW M :must stoop in order to pass thereunder.areattached to the vertical elements to permit a person United StatesPatent 3,218,065 EXERCISE DEVICE WITH TREADABLE BASE Joseph W. Anderson,Magnolia, NJ. (E. 9th St, Barnegat Light, NJ.) Filed Feb. 8, 1963, Ser.No. 257,280 2 Claims. (Cl. 272-57) their homes or oflice and do not havethe proper equipment at home.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel exercise device.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved exercisedevice designed to encourage a person 'to participate in exercisesinvolving bending and stooping.

' .It is still a further object of this invention to provide an improvedexercise device for bending and stooping which is adapted for use bypeople of different heights.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an improvedexercise device for bending and stooping which is adapted to be storedin a relatively small space when not in use. In accordance with thepresent invention, an exercise device for bending and stooping exercisesis provided.

'The device includes one or more horizontal bars suitably supported byvertical elements. The horizontal bar may be adjustable in height and isdisposed so that a person Arm supports to hold on for support whilepassing under the horizontal bar.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentand suggest themselves to those skilled in the art from a reading of thefollowing specification and claims, in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, and

FIGURE 2 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention.

In order to stay physically fit, it is necessary for a person to take avariety of different types of exercises in order that different parts ofthe body be exercised. For example, simple deep knee bending exercisesand the like have proven eifective to exercise certain parts of the bodybut not sufficient for other parts of the body.

- stooping exercises is illustrated.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 1, a person is illustrated passingthrough a bending and stooping exercise device 10. A plurality ofhorizontal members or bars 12, 14, 16 and 18 are supported by aplurality of vertical support members or bars 20, 22, 24 and 26.

The vertical members 20, 22, 24 and 26 are dimen- 3,218,055 PatentedNov. 16, 1965 sioned to slide within tubular members 28, 30, 32 and 34,respectively. The tubular members 28 and 34 may be welded or otherwisefixedly mounted to a base member 36. The tubular members 30 and 32 aresuitably mounted to the base member 38.

The tubular members 28, 30, 32 and 34 include apertures for receivingscrew elements, such as the screw element 40. The screw elements, suchas the screw element 40, are adapted to pass through the apertures inthe tubular members and through selected apertures, such as the aperture42, of the vertical members. After passing through the apertures in thetubular elements and the vertical members, the screws may be secured inplace by bolts, such as the bolt 44.

The heights of the horizontal members are adjustable by moving thevertical members into or out of the tubular elements at differentlengths. During the height adjustments of the horizontal members, thescrews and bolts are first removed and then replaced through the properapertures in the vertical members to give the desired heights.

Of course, the means for providing the height adjustments need notinvolve tubular elements, as illustrated. The elements may actually befiat stock having apertures therein with one or more screws and boltsbeing inserted and secured through the appropriate apertures to providethe desired heights.

An additional horizontal member 46 providing an arm rest is connectedbetween the vertical members 24 and 26 and an additional horizontalmember 48 providing a second armrest is connected between the verticalmembers 20 and 22. These additional horizontal members act as grippingor support elements for a person passing through the exercise device 10in the manner illustrated.

The upper horizontal members 14 and 18 are provided with hinges 50 and52, respectively. The additional lower horizontal support members 46 and48 are also provided with hinges 54 and 56, respectively. The

hinges may include locking elements (not illustrated) to maintain thehinges in locked positions when the exercise device is in use.

The hinges 50, 52, 54 and 56 permit the exercise device 10 to be foldedinto a collapsed position. The hinges 50 and 52 are adapted to be foldedinward and the hinges 54 and 56 may be folded upward. It is seen,therefore, that, when not in use, the exercise device 10 may be foldedand stored in a relatively small space, such as inside a closet in thehome, for example,

The base elements 36 and 38 may be made relatively flat. These elementsmay serve as providing rigid mechanical connections for the exercisedevice. In some cases, a person passing through the exercise device 10may actually wish to step on the base elements. Stepping on the baseelements prevents the exercise device from being lifted away from theground in case a person accidentally pushes up against any of the upperhorizontal members 12,14, 16 or 18.

The exercise device embodying the present invention, it is seen, may beused by persons of different heights by merely adjusting the heights ofthe upper horizontal members. A typical height of the upper horizontalmembers would be about 40 inches. It is likely that even at its highestheight, the height of the upper horizontal members would not exceed muchbeyond 4 feet or be lower than 32 inches at its lowermost position.Devices exceedingthe heights of the average person, i.e., those devicesunder which persons may walk without bending or stooping, are notcontemplated by the present invention. In a typical embodiment of thepresent invention, the width and length of the exercise device wereapproximately 28 inches.

It is conceivable that the exercise device of the present invention maybe made without the height adjustment feature. For example, a devicehaving a fixed height of 40 inches with a width and height of 28 inchesmay be acceptable to a majority of the adult group likely to purchase anexercise device involving the present invention.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1, it is seen that the personmust stoop or bend in order to pass through the exercise device. Thiscauses the inner muscles associated with the body to expand andcontract. In passing through the exercise device, a person may take agiant step. This permits the leg muscles of a person to be exercised. Inaddition, the stooping and bending exercises the arm muscles, as thehands grip the lower horizontal members. Thus it is seen that many, ifnot most, of the muscles in the human body may be exercised by therelatively simple bending and stooping techniques made possible throughthe present invention.

The components comprising the exercise device may include relativelylight tubing or fiat stock, such as aluminum or other suitable material.Making the device relatively light makes it possible for a person, suchas a housewife, to fold and move the device to different parts of thehome.

The device may be placedin a convenient place in the home where a persongenerally passes a number of times during the day, at a doorway forexample. With the exercise device acting as a reminder, a person becomesinclined to take exercises since he doesnt have to take time out fromhis other activities.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 2, a somewhat different form of abending and stooping exercise device is illustrated. The exercise device60 includes a horizontal bar member 62 suit-ably supported by supportelements 64, 66, 68 and '70. The elements 64 and 66, forming atriangular shape when expanded, are adapted to ride up and down intotubular elements 72 and '74, respectively. Likewise, the supportelements 68 and 71 are adapted to be moved up and down into the tubularelements 76 and 78, respectively.

The elements 72, 74, 76 and 78 are welded or otherwise secured to baseelements 80, 82, 84 and 86, respectively. The support elements 64, 66,68 and 70 are held in predetermined positions by means of screws, suchas the screw 88, passing through apertures in the tubular elements andsupport members, with the screws being held in place by means of bolts,such as the bolt 90.

Bolts 92 and 94 are provided to help prevent the sup port members frombeing spread apart too far. Gripping elements 96 and 98 are provided topermit a person to grip for support while passing under the horizontalbar 62, during a bending or stooping exercise.

The exercise device 6d includes many of the features of the device it ofFIGURE 1. For example, the members 96 and 98 include suitable hinges 100and 102, respectively, to permit the device to be folded for convenientstorage. A single horizontal bar 62 makes the exercise of bending andstooping less strenuous than if the device of FIGURE 1, involving aplurality of horizontal members, were employed.

The present invention has provided a relatively simple exercise devicewhich may be placed at any convenient place around the average home. Forexample, if the device is placed adjacent a door a person will beencouraged to bend and stoop to pass thereunder. Thus, the averagehousewife for example, will get a certain amount of exercise withouttaking time out.

At certain times, if it is desirable to store the exercise device of thepresent invention, it may conveniently be folded and stored in arelatively small space.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 1, the vertical and horizontal members maybe made of separate pieces suitably welded or connected together or maybe made of a single piece bent into the positions illustrated. If noheight adjustments are provided, a sin le bent piece or tubing or fiatstock may be bent to provide two vertical elements, one f the horizontalelements and one of the base elements.

Various other mechanical variations may of course be made to facilitatethe manufacture of the exercise devices illustrated. Various diilerenttypes of metals or other materials may be used for the parts making upthe devices embodying the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An exercise device for practicing bending and stooping exercisescomprising a plurality of horizontal bars, at least two pairs ofvertical elements for supporting said horizontal bars, means attached tosaid vertical elements for adjusting the lengths thereof to therebyadjust the heights of said horizontal bars, a first base elementconnected between the extreme ends of said first pair of verticalelements opposite to said horizontal bars, a second base elementconnected between the extreme ends of the other pair of said verticalelements opposite to said horizontal bars, said base elements adapted tohe stepped upon by a person passing under said horizontal bars tomaintain said exercise device securely in place during an exerciseoperation, a pair of arm supports attached to said vertical members topermit a person pass ing under said horizontal bars to rest thereon whenperforming a bending and stooping exercise by passing through saidexercise device, and said horizontal bars being disposed to have aheight less than the height of a person utilizing said exercisingdevice.

2. A foldable exercise device for practicing bonding and stoopingexercises comprising a plurality of tubular horizontal elements, atleast two pairs of tubular vertical elements for supporting saidhorizontal elements, said vertical elements including a plurality ofapertures, tubular base elements slidably attached to said verticalelements, each of said tubular base elements including a pair ofapertures, securing means adapted to fit through the apertures of saidtubular base elements and selected apertures of said vertical elementsfor adjusting the total lengths of said tubular base and verticalelements to thereby adjust the heights of said horizontal elements, afirst substantially flat base element connected between the extreme endsof one of said pair of tubular base elements opposite to said horizontalbars, a second substantially fiat element connected between the extremeends of the other of said pairs of tubular base elements opposite tosaid horizontal bars, said base elements adapted to he stepped on by aperson passing under said horizontal bars to maintain said exercisedevice'securely in place during an exercise operation when a personpasses through said exercise device, a pair of arm supports attached tosaid vertical members to permit a person passing under said horizontalbars to rest thereon when performing a bending and stooping exercise,and said horizontal bars being disposed to have a maximum height lessthan the height of a person utilizing said exercise device.

References ijited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,556,611 6/1951Borgrnan 182l79 2,648,539 8/1953 Packer 272-60 2,812,016 11/1957Abdallah 272-60 X 3,071,204 1/ 1963 Piltingsrud 18227 RICHARD C.PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

1. AN EXERCISE DEVICE FOR PRACTICING BENDING AND STOOPING EXERCISESCOMPRISING A PLURALITY OF HORIZONTAL BARS, AT LEAST TWO PAIRS OFVERTICAL ELEMENTS FOR SUPPORTING SAID HORIZONTAL BARS, MEANS ATTACHED TOSAID VERTICAL ELEMENTS FOR ADJUSTING THE LENGTHS THEREOF TO THEREBYADJUST THE HEIGHTS OF SAID HORIZONTAL BARS, A FIRST BASE ELEMENTCONNECTED BETWEEN THE EXTREME ENDS OF SAID FIRST PAIR OF VERTICALELEMENTS OPPOSITE TO SAID HORIZONTAL BARS, A SECOND BASE ELEMENTCONNECTED BETWEEN THE EXTREME ENDS OF THE OTHER PAIR OF SAID VERTICALELEMENTS OPPOSITE TO SAID HORIZONTAL BARS, SAID BASE ELEMENTS ADAPTED TOBE STEPPED UPON BY A PERSON PASSING UNDER SAID HORIZONTAL BARS TOMAINTAIN SAID EXERCISE DEVICE SECURELY IN PLACE DURING AN EXERCISEOPERATION, A PAIR OF ARM SUPPORTS ATTACHED TO SAID VERTICAL MEMBERS TOPERMIT A PERSON PASSING UNDER SAID HORIZONTAL BARS TO REST THEREON WHENPERFORMING A BENDING AND STOPPING EXERCISE BY PASSING THROUGH SAIDEXERCISE DEVICE, AND SAID HORIZONTAL BARS BEING DISPOSED TO HAVE AMAXIMUM HEIGHT LESS THAN THE HEIGHT OF A PERSON UTILIZING SAIDEXERCISING DEVICE.